Character Creation
HENCH! is a pretty unique setting. As such, many players might find it somewhat hard to create an adequate or interesting character. This little guide is to help players make a character, and even more so, one that's actually fun to play. __TOC__ Concept A concept is the core of a character. It's the thing that describes your character in the shortest amount of words possible. It should be your touchstone that you can return to in order to make a character that you actually want to play. Examples: Racist Auto Mechanic; Jaded/Insane Immortal; Butter-perspiring Thug; Overly-competent Mentally-handicapped Thug; Insane Chef Name In HENCH!, the name of the character is really important. It basically informs the concept, helping people to make the characters even more interesting without much effort. If you don't have a character concept in mind that you'd like to expand upon, make up a few names, and just expand upon the names, using those as a creative spark for a solid concept. The Three Types HENCH! has a lot of character diversity, but overall there are three main types that it will be exploring. It is likely that during a game, only one type will be explored at a time, because putting a group of possibly unrelated heroes and villains together and expect them to make a good story is just a little far-fetched, and makes the game much, much harder to control. It would also make the game seem much more eclectic instead of a large world filled with various people, and more like a game where all the players are 'important' at the same time. Good role-playing needs a party of some sort, here are the main three types of parties in HENCH!: Hero The "good guys" (p.c. term "protagonist"). People who fight for justice, vengeance, or just because they are bored. Villain The "bad guys" (p.c. term "antagonist"). People who were probably disfigured or some shit, and now want world domination, or at least to kill a specific person. Villains usually are born rich or got rich from being smart or something. Make it up. Super-Science While a super-scientist can be a hero or a villain, the theme here is akin to Johnny Quest or the Venture Bros. A super-scientist is a good guy or a bad guy secondarily to being a scientist, whereas a hero or a villain is primarily good/bad. It's common for a super-scientist to have a group of friends/family/workers to protect him/her and also make the stories more varied, so that will likely be where the other players come in - they fill out the other cast. Failure It's not The Golden Age of arching anymore, and as such, pretty much every character in this setting has something that makes them not very good at what they do. The heroes have shit that makes them B-list, the same goes for villains and the super-scientists. This doesn't mean that they suck at their jobs, necessarily. Their flaw could be that they're so good at their job that their social life is shit, but something has to be shitty about this person. Relationships Decide whether or not your character knows any other characters, and write them down, including how you know them. Story Elements Facets These are basically bullet points for your character. Whatever's important enough to notice within 5 minutes of meeting this person, generally write this down. Ambitions A short/mid-term life goal. Tics These are essentially character macros. However your character responds under a given circumstance, usually stressful ones. This happens automatically, and should not be ignored. They can change over time, though. Ethos Your character's general philosophy, coupled with a thing that they would do in light of such thoughts. Examples: "The Queen is the light in this world; I will protect her at all costs"; "Science is the key to progress; Protect my experiments and damn the world!"; "Fuck Bitches, Get Money" Merit & Flaw Your character has a merit, an undeniably good quality. This should generally be the thing that would get an audience to like them. On the flip side of the coin, you have a flaw, something that makes your character less likable or otherwise ruins their life. Note that they can be the same thing. Demeanor The character's overall way of acting towards other people. Appearance Like a character portrait, but with words. If someone asks you what your character looks like, read this. Past Character back-story. Just remember the "skirt rule"; Long enough to cover the important bits, short enough to keep it interesting. Age & Gender Make it appropriate for the concept, that is all.